Jesus Is LORD

"Trials teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of."

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:31:08 -0700

“Trials teach us what we are;
they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.”

- - Charles H. Spurgeon

Blessings,

David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

Blessings, David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

Tue, 07 May 2013 19:27:00 -0700

Lecrae - Confessions @lecrae @reachrecords Directed by: Kyle...

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:36:04 -0700

Lecrae - Confessions @lecrae @reachrecords

Directed by: Kyle Dettman
Lecrae’s latest album “Gravity” IN STORES NOW! It All Comes Down.
Get it on iTunes: http://bit.ly/U0Laql

Rick Warren, critics, and the hope of God’s Son

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:58:45 -0700

This week is the funeral for Rick Warren’s son Matthew. The 27-year-old Christian took his own life last week after a battle with depression that began when he was a young boy.

I first heard of this tragedy via text from friends such as Pastor Perry Noble. Upon receiving the news, I placed my hands on my head in shock and started weeping for my friend Pastor Rick, his family, and church family. I was in the middle of enjoying spring break with my wife, Grace, and our five kids, having family fun. My older daughter, 15-year-old Ashley, was standing nearby when I received word of the death, and, seeing me weep, she came up to console me and see what was wrong. I told her what had happened and told her that Satan hates pastors’ kids and is sometimes relentless in attacking them. I told her I loved her and kissed her on the head. I could not imagine what Rick and Kay Warren were experiencing at that moment.

Grace and I prayed for the Warrens and their church, and then informed our kids of what had happened so they could be praying also. I then texted my executive elders, Pastors Dave Bruskas and Sutton Turner, telling them of the news so they could pray for our friends at Saddleback Church. In my message I told them that the hatred of critics and enemies was coming and that it would be “irrational” and “demonic.”

I knew it was coming: Venom. Hatred. Criticism. Evil.

My heart sank knowing what grief would be added to the already unimaginable grief. And, it has happened. It even happened on my Facebook wall in response to my post, which simply said, “Teared up hugging and praying over my 5 kids today while praying for my friend Pastor Rick Warren whose 27-year-old son died. Please pray for his family & their church family.” Most Christians responded with kindness and a promise to pray. Some, however, said some ugly things I will not repeat. They were not alone.

A recent Google search for “Matthew Warren” turned up an article in a business journal regarding speculation that he was gay, an atheist’s rebuke for the Warren family grieving at all if they believe in Jesus and heaven, a paranormal article explaining that Matthew was born under the emotional zodiac sign of Cancer and his parents must have neglected his emotional needs, among others—all on the first page of most popular search results.

USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Post, and other news outlets have reported on the flood of irrational and hateful responses. Pastor Rick via Twitter and Facebook, gave us a glimpse into his own pain saying, “Grieving is hard. Grieving as public figures, harder. Grieving while haters celebrate your pain, hardest…”

Anyone with a modicum of a conscience has to grieve the way many people have treated Pastor Rick and his family during this, the most difficult season of their life. And anyone who has journeyed with someone they love battling mental illness or depression knows that it is incredibly complex and unpredictable, and defies simplistic diagnosis and treatment. Only God clearly sees the interplay between the chemistry of the body, the life of the mind, and the hope of the soul, since it is all marred and complicated by the sin that has entered the world.

But, why?

Why is there so much evil heaped upon one of the most loving, encouraging, and generous men I have known in my entire life? My friend who texts me to say he loves me and is praying for our church and wants to know if there’s anything he can do to serve us? My friend who not only spoke at our first Resurgence conference, but also spent maybe an hour hugging nearly every person who attended? My friend who has repeatedly over the years asked me if there were any young leaders I knew that he could encourage and serve?

There are three kinds of people who attack Pastor Rick.

1. People who disagree with him

Rick Warren is one of the most high-profile Christians alive today. People who dislike (or even hate) Christian beliefs despise him because they see him as representative of those beliefs. Most of those people are non-Christians. This is to be expected. The more people you influence, the more people who hate you. It’s a corresponding scale. If you influence 10 people, one will oppose you. If you influence 1 million people, 100,000 people will oppose you. Like Pastor Rick once told me, “If you call the shots, you take the shots.” This is the price leaders pay to get Jesus’ message out.

2. People who wrongly think they know what he believes

These people are often well intended but badly informed. Rather than reading the doctrinal statement on his church’s website to discover what he believes, they instead get bizarre bits and pieces strung together out of context from extremist “discernment” ministries with no theological credibility or research integrity. Subject to lying, fearful and gullible people are then guilty of lying and gossiping as they swarm like bees around a colony every time some queen bee summons them for orders to head out for online stinging. I make a conscious effort to avoid these and porn sites for the same reason: they are filled with horrible trash that ruins lives. Not long ago, however, I was flipping through channels and sadly stumbled across a well-known televangelist and stopped only because I heard the name of Rick Warren. The host was ranting about something called “Christlam,” which is apparently a last-days/end-times deception, wedding Christianity and Islam into a one-world religion to deceive the elect. It would have made a funny Saturday Night Live comedy sketch, but instead was a grievous charade in the name of Jesus Christ as Pastor Rick has been very clear about this issue. This is just one example of an irrational fools’ parade of nonsense out there against him.

3. People who are jealous

Jesus’ brother James speaks of “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition” (James 3:14). People who are ambitious for themselves become bitter against and envious of those who have succeeded. Pastor Rick is successful. He has a huge church, massive influence, and best-selling books. Some people are jealous. They believe they are godlier, humbler, wiser, more informed, more helpful, more truthful, and more deserving of a large platform.

So they criticize and oppose, as sometimes the easiest way to make some noise is to become the critic of someone who has a lot of influence. Lift up the rock of irrational, overblown, unreasonable criticism and you will see the roach of jealousy scurrying away from the light.

I’m no coward or compromiser. I’ve not gone soft. I’ve not watered down my sauce. I have always fought for the truth when it was required. I don’t just personally believe in the Bible, sin, the cross of Jesus, and the wrath of God in hell—I emphasize these truths and scream them like a madman to anyone who will listen from one of America’s least-churched cities.

I also deeply love my brothers and sisters in Christ who walk in the truth—even those I disagree with on secondary, open-handed issues. And, the truth is that a lot of people would honor Jesus today if they publicly repented to Pastor Rick of things they have said publicly about him, his family, and his ministry that are untrue during this, the hardest moment of his life as he and Kay hold hands and weep over the death of their younger son. You may want to defend yourself by saying you disagree with some things he’s said. But heck, I disagree with some things I’ve said, and you disagree with some things you’ve said. And, the truth is, you would not hold up well under the scrutiny he receives and opposition he endures. I don’t know how he does it.

To my Reformed brothers and sisters, I would remind you of the Desiring God conference a few years back where Pastor Rick was invited by another friend, Dr. John Piper. Pastor Rick did not make the event but spoke via video simulcast. There were many who speculated that he was proud and too important to show up. I’ve seen this a few times, as he also cancelled last minute at another event where we were both scheduled to speak. In every instance, he gave the simple explanation of pressing family matters. In hindsight, maybe he wasn’t being proud or rude but rather being a devoted dad to his son and not wanting to divulge details to a hating online mob.

I pray for him and Kay to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, as they need perseverance that is supernatural. I’d encourage you also to pray for them, especially this week.

Pastor Rick, I love you. Thank you for loving Jesus and so many people. I weep with you for the loss of your son. I rejoice that you worship a Father who buried his Son and is perfectly able to comfort you today. And, I rejoice that your son worshiped God’s Son who not only died, but rose from death and ascended into heaven where he welcomed your son and is preparing a family reunion that will last forever upon the resurrection of the dead. It will be a glorious day when you hug your son again!

- Pastor Mark Driscoll

Praying for Rick and Kay Warren and Family

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 16:53:48 -0700

Rick Warren sent the following email to the staff at Saddleback Church this morning:

"Christianity does not begin with our pursuit of Christ, but with Christ’s pursuit of us."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:45:12 -0700

“Christianity does not begin with our pursuit of Christ, but with Christ’s pursuit of us.”

- - David Platt

Blessings,

David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

Should We Baptize Infants? - Ligon Duncan, Thabiti...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:45:10 -0700

Should We Baptize Infants?

- Ligon Duncan, Thabiti Anyabwile

John Stott on Preparing a Sermon

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:30:31 -0700

Steps for Preparing a Sermon

1. Choose your text and meditate on it.
- Read the text, re-read it, re-read it and read it again.
- Probe it, chew on it, bore into it, soak in it.
- You are not called to preach yourself or your ideas, but charged to “preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:1-2). Clarence Edward McCartney: “Put all the Bible you can into it.”

2. Ask questions of the text.
- What does it mean? Or better yet, what did it mean when first spoken or written?
- What did the author intend to affirm or condemn or promise or command?
- What does it say? What is its contemporary message? How does it speak to us today?
- Remember: Keep these questions distinct but together—the text’s meaning is of purely academic interest unless you go on to discern its message for today, it’s significance. But you cannot discover it’s contemporary message without first wrestling with its original meaning.

3.Combine diligent study with fervent prayer.
- All the time you study cry humbly to God for illumination by the Spirit of truth. Like Moses, “I pray you, show me your glory” (Exod 33:18), and Samuel, “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9).
- Stott: “I have always found it helpful to do as much of my sermon preparation as possible on my knees, with the Bible open before me, in prayerful study.
- R.W. Dale: “Work without prayer is atheism; and prayer without work is presumption.”

4. Isolate the Dominant Thought of the Text.
- Every text has a main theme, an overriding thrust.
- A sermon is not a lecture, it aims to convey only one major message
- The congregation will forget details of the message, but they should remember the dominant thought, because all the sermon’s details should be marshaled to help them grasp its message and feel its power.
- Once the text’s principle meaning has been determined, express it in a ‘categorical proposition.’
- J.H. Jowett: “I have a conviction that no sermon is ready for preaching…until we can express its theme in a short, pregnant sentence as clear as a crystal. I find the getting of that sentence is the hardest, the most exacting and the most fruitful labor in my study…I do not think any sermon ought to be preached, or even written, until that sentence has emerged, clear and lucid as a cloudless moon.”
- Ian Pitt-Watson: “Every sermon should be ruthlessly unitary in its theme.”
- Don’t by-pass the discipline of waiting patiently for the dominant thought to disclose itself. You have to be ready to pray and think yourself deep into the text, even under it, until we give up all pretensions of being its master or manipulator, and become instead its humble and obedient servant.

5. Arrange Your Material to Serve the Dominant Thought
- The goal is not a literary masterpiece, but organization that enables the text’s main thrust to make its maximum impact.
- Ruthlessly discard irrelevant material
- Subordinate material to theme so that it illumines and supports it.
- Golden Rule for Sermon Outlines: Let each text supply its own structure. Let it open itself up like a rose to the morning sun.
- Be precise with your words. It is impossible to convey a precise message without choosing precise words.
- Words to use:
- Simple and Clear words. Ryle: “Preach as if you had asthma.”
- Vivid words. They should conjur up images in the mind.
- Honest words. Beware of exaggerations and be sparing in use of superlatives.
- C.S. Lewis: don’t just tell people how to feel, describe in such a way that people feel it themselves.
- Don’t use words too big for the subject.

6. Remember the Power of Imagination—Illustrate!
- Imagination: the power of the mind by which it conceives of invisible things, and is able to present them as though they were visible to others. (Beecher)
- Remember that humans have trouble grasping abstract concepts—we need them converted into pictures and examples.
- Exert your greatest effort for illustrations that reinforce and serve the dominant thought.
- Think of illustrations as windows that let in light on our subject and help people to more clearly see and appreciate it.
- Beware of illustrations that draw too much attention (to themselves instead of the subject) or which actually take people away from the main point.

7. Add Your Introduction
- It’s better to start with the body so that we don’t twist our text to fit our introduction.
- Stott: A good introduction serves two purposes. First, it arouses interest, stimulates curiosity, and whets the appetite for more. Secondly, it genuinely introduces the theme by leading the hearers into it.
- Don’t make the intro too long or too short. “Men have a natural aversion to abruptness, and delight in a somewhat gradual approach. A building is rarely pleasing in appearance without a porch or some sort of inviting entrance.”

8. Add Your Conclusion.
- Conclusions are more difficult. Avoid endlessly circling and never landing. Avoid ending too abruptly.
- A true conclusion goes beyond recapitulation to personal application. (Not that all application should wait till the end—the text needs to be applied as we go along.)
- Nevertheless, it is a mistake to disclose too soon the conclusion to which we are going to come. If we do, we lose people’s sense of expectation. It is better to keep something up our sleeve. Then we can leave to the end that persuading which, by the Holy Spirit’s power, will prevail on people to take action.
- Call the congregation to act! Our expectation as the sermon comes to an end, is not merely that people will understand or remember or enjoy our teaching, but that they will do something about it. If there is no summons, there is no sermon!
- The precise application of your sermon depends on the character of the text. The dominant thought points us to how people should act in response. Does the text call to repentance or stimulate faith? Does it evoke worship, demand obedience, summon to witness, or challenge to service? The text itself determines the particular response we desire.
- Consider the composition of your congregation. It is good to let your mind wander over the church family and ask prayerfully what message God might have for each from your text. Consider their unique circumstances, weaknesses, strengths and temptations.

9. Write Down Your Sermon
- Don’t take too long to get to this stage! Get something on paper, don’t endlessly noodle on vague notes (this is my temptation).
- Writing obliges you to think straight.

10. Edit it Again
- View hitting your time goal (40-45 minutes) as just as essential to its overall effectiveness as anything else you do. People will take more away if you say less.
- Ruthlessly cut the unneeded and extra. Look for places where you can be more concise.
- Err on the side of cutting things—especially long quotes.

11. Pray over Your Message
- Stott: “We need to pray until our text comes freshly alive to us, the glory shines forth from it, the fire burns in our heart, and we begin to experience the explosive power of God’s Word within us.”

- Via. Joshua Harris

Confessions of a Woman Who Didn't Like Theology

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:00:37 -0700

A couple of years ago, we were sitting in our living room as I confessed to another young Reformed couple, “I don’t like theology.” We all observed a moment of embarrassed silence in honor of my ignorance.

I recently reflected on that moment as I sat in an enthusiastically Reformed conference. When I say “enthusiastically Reformed,” I mean the sort of zeal you find in that first-semester seminary student who’s just discovered the doctrines of grace and can’t seem to speak of much else. He manages to foist TULIP into an impressive array of situations, from a discussion of biblical texts to a tour of the art museum.

While I’ve grown immensely in my understanding of the importance of biblical truth, the stubborn fact remains: love for theology and doctrine doesn’t come naturally to me. It’s an acquired taste.

But why should you care? Perhaps I lost you at “I don’t like theology.” Nevertheless, I’m convinced you should care, and here’s why: I represent members of your church. Maybe a large segment, maybe a smaller one, but I guarantee they’re out there. With this reality in mind, l’d like to offer three insights from an unnatural theology lover.

1. Even when learning doesn’t come naturally, we can love theology and doctrine if it’s served consistently with a big helping of gentleness and grace.

Be careful not to characterize us as illiterate, uneducated doofuses who haven’t read the Bible. I get where that perception comes from, I do. But it’s not true of all of us, and theology-loving believers should be careful and gentle in their approach. By all means teach, rebuke, and correct us. But please do so gently and graciously. Consider the example of Priscilla and Aquila when they found Apollos full of zeal but lacking in knowledge (Acts 18:18-28; cf. Rom. 10:2; Prov. 19:2). The text tells us the couple took him into their home and unfolded in greater fullness the gospel of Christ (Acts 18:26). Gently and graciously, Priscilla and Aquilla led Apollos to a knowledge of the truth.

2. Sometimes you will need to connect the dots for us.

We need your help. But be willing to help us in humility, without getting exasperated. I’m a creative, non-linear thinker who often absorbs theology more effectively when I trace the application back to the doctrine. I understand why you scorn sermons full of application but lacking meat. But you also need to understand that my way of processing isn’t necessarily inferior; it’s just different. Connect the dots, take me to the truth, and watch the fruit unfold.

3. Don’t give up on us.

For all the creative, feeling-oriented folks in your church, pray and don’t give up. One day, the theology you treasure will strike us in the heart like Cupid’s arrow—and we’ll be hooked. Probably when life trips us up and we need help connecting those dots. And we’ll get it. Finally, we’ll get it. God will accomplish this in us—and perhaps even faster as you use gentleness, understanding, and grace to minister to us. Or, as the apostle put it, as you labor with “great patience and careful instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2; cf. 2 Tim. 2:24-25).

Then, friends, watch out! No eye has seen and no ear has heard the ways we’ll advance the kingdom with our newfound grasp of—and love for—deep truth.

- Ashley Haupt

Lecrae Raps the Gospel in One Minute Blessings, David Jee...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:00:06 -0700

Lecrae Raps the Gospel in One Minute

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 06:30:27 -0700

““Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.””

- - Psalm 95:7-8

Blessings,

David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

"For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that..."

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:15:10 -0700

“

For my name’s sake I defer my anger,

for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,

that I may not cut you off.

Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,

for how should my name be profaned?

My glory I will not give to another.

”

- — Isaiah 48:9-11

Blessings,

David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

Hillsong - Man of Sorrows [Single] Oh that rugged cross my...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 15:40:00 -0700

Hillsong - Man of Sorrows [Single]

Oh that rugged cross my salvation

Where Your love poured out over me

Now my soul cries out hallelujah

Praise and honour unto Thee

Now my debt is paid

It is paid in full

By the precious blood

That my Jesus spilled

Now the curse of sin

Has no hold on me

Whom the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

prayfordaisy: Daisy’s Memorial Info Date: Saturday, February...

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:14:35 -0800

prayfordaisy:

Blessings,

David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

Britt Merrick - When Sparrows Fall (Matt....

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 10:01:21 -0800

Britt Merrick - When Sparrows Fall (Matt. 10:28-31)

Pray For Daisy: At 2:40am this morning our sweet Daisy went to be with Jesus. She was...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:23:38 -0800

Pray For Daisy: At 2:40am this morning our sweet Daisy went to be with Jesus. She was...:

prayfordaisy:

Pray that the Holy Spirit comforts the family through mourning and rejoicing..

Lecrae - TELL THE WORLD Feat. Mali Music @lecrae @reachrecords...

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:37:36 -0800

Lecrae - TELL THE WORLD Feat. Mali Music @lecrae @reachrecords

thank you for this site!

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:30:42 -0800

You are welcome!

"The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints."

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 09:50:03 -0800

“The church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.”

- - Timothy Keller

Blessings,

David Jee [Eternity Bible College]

5 Signs You Glorify Self

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 11:45:00 -0800

It is important to recognize the harvest of self-glory in you and in your ministry. May God use this list to give you diagnostic wisdom. May he use it to expose your heart and to redirect your ministry.

Self-glory will cause you to:

1. Parade in public what should be kept in private.
The Pharisees live for us as a primary example. Because they saw their lives as glorious, they were quick to parade that glory before watching eyes. The more you think you’ve arrived and the less you see yourself as daily needing rescuing grace, the more you will tend to be self-referencing and self-congratulating. Because you are attentive to self-glory, you will work to get greater glory even when you aren’t aware that you’re doing it. You will tend to tell personal stories that make you the hero. You will find ways, in public settings, of talking about private acts of faith. Because you think you’re worthy of acclaim, you will seek the acclaim of others by finding ways to present yourself as “godly.”

I know most pastors reading this column will think they would never do this. But I am convinced there is a whole lot more “righteousness parading” in pastoral ministry than we would tend to think. It is one of the reasons I find pastors’ conferences, presbytery meetings, general assemblies, ministeriums, and church planting gatherings uncomfortable at times. Around the table after a session, these gatherings can degenerate into a pastoral ministry “spitting contest” where we are tempted to be less than honest about what’s really going on in our hearts and ministries. After celebrating the glory of the grace of the gospel there is way too much self-congratulatory glory taking by people who seem to need more acclaim than they deserve.

2. Be way too self-referencing.

We all know it, we’ve all seen it, we’ve all been uncomfortable with it, and we’ve all done it. Proud people tend to talk about themselves a lot. Proud people tend to like their opinions more than the opinions of others. Proud people think their stories are more interesting and engaging than others. Proud people think they know and understand more than others. Proud people think they’ve earned the right to be heard. Proud people, because they are basically proud of what they know and what they’ve done, talk a lot about both. Proud people don’t reference weakness. Proud people don’t talk about failure. Proud people don’t confess sin. So proud people are better at putting the spotlight on themselves than they are at shining the light of their stories and opinions on God’s glorious and utterly undeserved grace.

3. Talk when you should be quiet.

When you think you’ve arrived, you are quite proud of and confident in your opinions. You trust your opinions, so you are not as interested in the opinions of others as you should be. You will tend to want your thoughts, perspectives, and viewpoints to win the day in any given meeting or conversation. This means you will be way more comfortable than you should be with dominating a gathering with your talk. You will fail to see that in a multitude of counsel there is wisdom. You will fail to see the essential ministry of the body of Christ in your life. You will fail to recognize your bias and spiritual blindness. So you won’t come to meetings formal or informal with a personal sense of need for what others have to offer, and you will control the talk more than you should.

4. Be quiet when you should speak.

Self-glory can go the other way as well. Leaders who are too self-confident, who unwittingly attribute to themselves what could only have been accomplished by grace, often see meetings as a waste of time. Because they are proud, they are too independent, so meetings tend to be viewed as an irritating and unhelpful interruption of an already overburdened ministry schedule. Because of this they will either blow meetings off or tolerate the gathering, attempting to bring it to a close as quickly as possible. So they don’t throw their ideas out for consideration and evaluation because, frankly, they don’t think they need it. And when their ideas are on the table and being debated, they don’t jump into the fray, because they think that what they have opined or proposed simply doesn’t need to be defended. Self-glory will cause you to speak too much when you should listen and to feel no need to speak when you surely should.

5. Care too much about what people think about you.

When you have fallen into thinking that you’re something, you want people to recognize the something. Again, you see this in the Pharisees: personal assessments of self-glory always lead to glory-seeking behavior. People who think they have arrived can become all too aware of how others respond to them. Because you’re hyper-vigilant, watching the way the people in your ministry respond, you probably don’t even realize how you do things for self-acclaim.

Sadly, we often minister the gospel of Jesus Christ for the sake of our own glory, not for the glory of Christ or the redemption of the people under our care. I have done this. I have thought during the preparation for a sermon that a certain point, put a certain way, would win a detractor, and I have watched for certain people’s reactions as I have preached. In these moments, in the preaching and preparation of a sermon, I had forsaken my calling as the ambassador of the eternal glory of another for the purpose of my acquiring the temporary praise of men.

- Paul Tripp
Paul Tripp is a pastor, author, and international conference speaker. He is the president of Paul Tripp Ministries and works to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. This vision has led Paul to write 13 books on Christian living and travel around the world preaching and teaching. Paul’s driving passion is to help people understand how the gospel of Jesus Christ speaks with practical hope in everyday life. His latest book is Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry (Crossway, 2012).